1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for cutting a continuous corrugated member composed of a thin plate, for example, a louver forming corrugated fin for a heat exchanger, for example, a radiator.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the previously known technique for cutting a corrugated fin, a worm gear is engaged with a crest of the corrugated fin for force feeding. A cutter is operated when the fin is fed to the necessary number of crests. However, the fin displays poor rigidity when passed through a chute. The resultant slight changes in the resisting force tend to cause pitch unevenness. As a result, the worm becomes disengaged, making impossible to cut the fin precisely at the trough. This defect becomes conspicuous when the feed speed is increased. Furthermore, since the fin is louver-formed, pitch unevenness is readily caused by adhesion of the louver to the worm. Moreover, the cutter has to be brought down and up in one pass of a crest of the corrugated member. The speed of this operation, however, is inherently limited by the cam mechanism for driving the cutter. Therefore, it is impossible to increase the speed of the cutting operation beyond a certain limit.